Each December, a Rumi festival takes place in the city of Konya, Turkey
to celebrate Sheb-i Arus—“The Wedding Night." It commemorates the
passing of mystic, philosopher and poet Mevlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi
(1207-1273).

In honour of this, we invite you to join us and witness a sacred
ceremony of poetry, music and Sufi devotional dance. Semazenbashi (sema
master) Raqib Brian Burke will guide local whirling dervishes in the
Sema, where dervishes turn in a celestial dance, with one palm extended
symbolically upward to receive and one extended downward to give,
keeping nothing for themselves. An active meditation. Open secret.
Symbol of peace.

After
the ceremony, we extend an open invitation to both novice and
experienced semazens to stay and participate in continuous sacred
music, zikr (remembrance
of God) and whirling, a pattern possibly similar to the sema shared at
the time of Rumi.